Changing your dns server may increase your Download and Upload Speed.

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You may have heard before that changing your dns server may increase your download and upload speed.

Many people use the dns server that their internet service provider uses while others may use a different one such as Google's 8.8.8.8.

The data your console sends out will go through a dns server before it reaches it's final destination.
In fact when you run a speed test you are testing your connection between your console and the dns server your console is set to connect to. Like I said before by default your internet service provider will set your primary dns server for you that your console connects to. However the one your internet service provider sets may not be the best one your console could be connected to. This is usually due to the dns server your internet service provider sets being located at a distance further away from your console then other dns servers. So basically if you can connect to a dns server that is closer to you the better of a connection you will have and the faster your internet will be.

That brings me to a particularly new dns server you may or may not of heard of 1.1.1.1 (1.0.0.1)

1.1.1.1 is a dns server released by Cloudflare in partnership with APNIC on April 1 2018. They claim to make your internet speed 28% faster then the competitors. They also claim that they will not track your internet activity.

I ran a few tests using my ps3's connection test and here are my results.

Before I share my results with you I need to share my basic set up that my ps3 uses to connect to the internet.

First my ps3 is connected to a Motorola modem/router combo provided by AT&T using a cat 5e Ethernet cable.
Second my nat type is type 1 (Open)
Third my settings are set to use 1000 base T Full Duplex.
And finally my internet speed that my Internet service provider provides me is 12 Mbps Down and 1 Mbps Up.

So here are my results.

Default DNS Server that the ip address sets. (The address is normally the address of your router)

Download: 7.6 Mbps
Upload: 814.3 Kbps

Google DNS Server (8.8.8.8)

Download: 11.0 Mbps
Upload: 862.8 Kbps

Cloudfare (1.1.1.1)

Download: 12.1 Mbps
Upload: 889.7 Kbps

As you can see the default one set by the Internet service provider yielded the worst results in both download and upload speeds. Google's dns server increased the download speed by 145% and the upload speed by 106%.

Cloudfare's dns server on the other hand increased the download speed by 160% and the upload speed by 109%.

If you would like to test this out for yourself you can configure your dns settings on your console by going to Settings > Network Settings > Internet Connection Settings >. When asked to configure the dns server choose manual.

I don't know how to get to the set up for it on a ps4 yet but when I do I'll share it here.

Please note that his may not work for everyone. When I changed the dns server on my cousin's ps3 it did not change the download speed by much but he did see a 200% increase in his upload speed. His ps3 is also on a wireless connection while mine is on a wired connection so that may have had some effect on the different results.

Cloudfare has also stated that it is planing on making the ping of 1.1.1.1 at least 10ms no matter where you connect from. Having that low of a ping will improve latency and reduce lag in an online game.

For those of you who want to use Cloudfare's dns server on your console or other devices to see if you can get a better connection speed here are the ipv4 and ipv6 addressess.

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I really do hate being the one to bring this up... but I don't think you truly understand what DNS does. DNS is a service that translates IP addresses to domain names. So 179.212.1.12 could be "domain.com". No matter how fast this service responds, it has zero effect on your transfer speeds. I ... don't even want to start guessing why you got faster speeds in your tests, but all I can say is whatever you've put together here is false. Almost feels like cloudflare sent you a PSN credit or two. =D

No offense intended, but have a look at what Wikipedia or any other source on the internet that explains what DNS is actually used for.

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I really do hate being the one to bring this up... but I don't think you truly understand what DNS does. DNS is a service that translates IP addresses to domain names. So 179.212.1.12 could be "domain.com". No matter how fast this service responds, it has zero effect on your transfer speeds. I ... don't even want to start guessing why you got faster speeds in your tests, but all I can say is whatever you've put together here is false. Almost feels like cloudflare sent you a PSN credit or two. =D

No offense intended, but have a look at what Wikipedia or any other source on the internet that explains what DNS is actually used for.

Then how come when I go back to my default dns server it goes back down to 7 Mbps but when I have it on 1.1.1.1 it goes right back up to 12 Mbps? It does this every time.

Also I'm not associated with Cloudfare in anyways. I just noticed what it did to my internet speed and figured I'd share it here.

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Default DNS Server that the ip address sets. (The address is normally the address of your router)

Download: 7.6 Mbps
Upload: 814.3 Kbps

Google DNS Server (8.8.8.8)

Download: 11.0 Mbps
Upload: 862.8 Kbps

Cloudfare (1.1.1.1)

Download: 12.1 Mbps
Upload: 889.7 Kbps

To me these results all seem to be within margin of error. I can run 2 speed test on my ps4 back to back and have differences like these amounts in my results.

I've been using cloudflare for a while and it's pretty good for your pc and mobile browsing, but i think the PS4 is bottlenecking internet speeds. Because even though i recently increased my ISP subscription from 100 mb/s download to 250 mb/s, games dont download any faster on my console.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Sundr0wn

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Changing your DNS server can indeed increase your download speeds, especially when you switch from your ISP's DNS to a CDN based on such as the Google or Cloudfare services. You may get connected to a server that is closer to you, allowing faster downloads. Or you may not, so try it yourself.